Saigon Kiss
by waterlilylf
Summary: Wufei has just moved to Saigon and so far hates everything about the place. But will meeting his new landlord change all of that? 5x6 get together.
1. Chapter 1

Note to readers: this one is for Kaeru Shisho, who wanted a story set in Saigon. All the places in this story exist, more or less as described, but sadly uninhabited by GW characters. Many thanks to Maskelle and Dyna for editorial input.

Note to KS: This is a one shot. Ongoing rumours that I write for chocolate are completely unfounded.

**Saigon Kiss:**

The lights were red, which sometimes meant it was marginally safer to cross the road. Wufei put out one tentative foot, and then immediately jerked back as a motorbike whizzed by from out of nowhere. Adding insult to injury, the driver flicked him a cheeky grin.

Gods, this city! Wufei swore eloquently in an ancient Cantonese dialect spoken by a handful of people on the planet. It didn't make him feel any better. It took five minutes to get across the damn road, and only because a little girl in school uniform and pigtails took his hand to lead him across.

He'd only been here for four days and he already hated the place; a world away from calm, orderly Sanque with its timetables and pedestrian crossings and _normality_.

Forcing himself to smile at the little girl, he fished out the piece of paper with the address written on it. He already knew he wasn't going to want to live anywhere near this part of town, but he'd made arrangements to view the house so he was obliged to turn up.

Checking street numbers, he found the address.

At the entrance was one of those pavement eating places you found everywhere in Saigon. A long trestle table, a few child-sized plastic stools, and a piece of ripped tarpaulin rather precariously strung over it all. His guidebook advised against eating in places like this, but the pieces of chicken and pork grilling on the home-made barbeque smelled wonderful. The baguette and coffee his hotel provided for breakfast weren't very substantial.

He walked past, and found himself in a rather pleasant courtyard. There were a handful of businesses; a small boutique selling brightly coloured silk dresses, a sign advertising a dentist, a French restaurant with the doors closed so early in the day. Even a few weeks after Chinese New Year – Tet, as they called it here – there were tubs of yellow chrysanthemums outside each door, and cherry blossoms stencilled on the windows.

It was charming.

Reading his directions again, he turned right and walked a few meters down a narrow alleyway and was suddenly in another courtyard. This one was residential; tall, narrow houses reaching for the sky like trees in a rainforest. Wufei grinned at the fancifulness of that image; in a crowded city, it made sense to build up. There were a few crumbling French colonial houses with wrought iron balconies and peeling ochre-yellow paintwork, and some modern buildings painted the colours of ice-cream; raspberry and lemon and pistachio.

To his left were a couple of cats and dogs snoozing on sun-warmed tiles and two small boys throwing a shuttlecock back and forth.

Number 69/22 turned out to be one of the older houses, with greenery spilling over the three wrap-around balconies and a riot of orchids around the front door. The black cat on the step looked up and then purred when he sank his fingers into its plush, warm fur.

This was ….nice. For the first time since he'd arrived in Vietnam he couldn't hear traffic, only the chirp of sparrows and the children laughing and the steady drone of the cat's purr.

No one answered the door though. Wufei double-checked his watch and the note before ringing the bell a second time. Yes, he had the address right, and the man had said eight thirty am. Definitely.

That was it, then. Even if he'd been tempted by this startling little oasis of calm, there was no way he wanted to rent from someone so unreliable they couldn't keep a simple appointment. Giving the cat a last stroke, he straightened up and saw the little note with his name on it, sellotaped to the wall.

He'd almost missed it; what a stupid place to leave something.

_Wufei:_

_Sorry, I had to run out for a bit. Can you come to the yoga studio across the road? Turn left and go under the archway. Number 17._

_Zechs. _

Damn. He'd have to cross that bloody road again. Well, maybe he just wouldn't bother. This place was unexpected and charming and would be very convenient for work, but it was in the middle of utter bedlam, and he'd probably be better off with his own apartment, rather than sharing with a stranger.

The cat wound herself around his legs, still purring throatily. It would be nice to live somewhere with a pet.

He crossed the road again, unaided this time, which gave a stupid little thrill of accomplishment. He turned left, as requested, and cursed again as he found himself in a courtyard full of motorbikes. No yoga studio in sight, just a tall apartment block. That was it then. Zechs, or whatever he was called, was either flat out insane or playing some sort of stupid practical joke.

'Hey?' He hadn't even noticed the girl until she was at his elbow. 'Looking for the yoga studio?'

'Ah, yes.'

She laughed. 'Everyone gets lost the first time. Up the stairs in the far corner and you'll see the sign.'

Thinking about rabbit holes and parallel universes, Wufei obeyed, weaving a path through densely packed motorbikes and climbing the unlit concrete stairs.

There was a neatly lettered sign on the door on the first landing.

'_Welcome to Yoga Living. Please take off your shoes.'_

It was another wholly unexpected place. There were low couches and glossy plants and soft classical music and the enticing fragrance of lemongrass.

There was a young man sitting at the desk in one corner, too intent on the phone in his hand to look up. 'Not till lunchtime? Shit! No, it's OK, Heero. We'll cope. Zechs is taking the nine o'clock class, and I've lit candles in the studio. Looks pretty cool actually.' He laughed. 'Yeah. Like _that_ night. Right, see you later. Try not to kill anyone. Love you.' He hung up and grinned at Wufei.

'Hi! Can I help you?'

'I'm supposed to be meeting someone called Zechs.'

'Are you now?' Dark blue eyes swept up and down. 'He gets all the luck. He's in the studio. Through there. You can go on in.'

Wufei walked through a small cloakroom with lockers and sinks and some curtained cubicles, and pushed open the door with 'Studio' marked on it.

It was a large room with a highly polished hardwood floor and carefully spaced red mats and candles around the walls. One wall was entirely composed of mirrors, reflecting the flickering flames from the candles.

And the man.

He was very tall, with long blond hair in a sloppy ponytail. Black leggings and a tight, sleeveless t-shirt did absolutely nothing to hide the sheer beauty of him. Or the grace, as he moved.

Wufei saw his own open-mouthed reflection gaping and snapped his jaw shut. He was _not_ going to drool.

Not.

The blond, moving smoothly into a crouch and then standing up, arms high stretched high above his head, smiled.

'Good morning. You're a bit early. Class starts in fifteen minutes. Feel free to start warming up if you like.'

He'd turned while he was speaking, spinning on his heel to face Wufei and coming a few steps closer.

There were loose strands of silvery-fair hair drifting around his face. He was _very_ tall. And infuriatingly sure of himself.

'I'm not early,' Wufei snapped. 'You're late. You were supposed to meet me at your house fifteen minutes ago.'

'Ah. You're Wufei then.'

He held out one hand, which Wufei took out of automatic good manners and then regretted it. This idiot had messed up his entire morning and was compounding the insult by being quite impossibly gorgeous and not remotely apologetic.

'I'm fifteen minutes?' One pale eyebrow arched over a blue eye that was shining with amusement. 'How appalling of me.'

'I'm glad you find it funny. I don't,' Wufei said coldly. 'We'd made an arrangement for half past eight. I'm sorry, but I really don't have time to hang about here all day, because you can't organise yourself. Not that I should be surprised in this city, really, since nobody seems capable of keeping any appointments or doing what they say they will or even telling the time accurately.'

Oh, God.

He hadn't remotely meant to say any of that, but all the frustrations of the past few days had suddenly boiled over and exploded. That first awful guesthouse the university had arranged for him; the taxi that had never come to collect him that first morning; the fact that no one in the museum archives had apparently heard of him, much less arranged the manuscripts and documents that he'd been promised.

It had all been a horrendous mistake; coming here. No wonder he'd been offered the job. Foolishly, he'd preened himself on being chosen, over candidates who had more experience and higher qualifications. They'd probably been offered the post and turned it down and Chang Wufei had been the only one stupid enough to accept.

'Wufei. Please wait.' He could have shaken off Zechs' arm easily enough, but there was a concerned note in the man's voice that wasn't so easy to dismiss.

'I'm very sorry about this. We've had something of a nightmare morning. There are road works going on across the street, and they've cut off our power. As a result, I'm running late. Do you think you could wait for me?'

'I'm supposed to be looking at another apartment later on.'

'I see.' Blue eyes clouded, Zechs gazed down at him. 'I have a class to teach at nine. I'll be an hour if you have time to wait. Or you can come back later. I'll be home all day.'

'I – I could, I suppose.' He said it almost reluctantly, and then looked at his watch. 'Ten o'clock, then?'

Zechs laughed out loud at that; Wufei couldn't see that he'd say anything funny but the other man had rather a nice laugh.

'Ten o'clock,' he agreed. 'On the dot. There's a nice café next door, if you'd like to go and have a drink. I'll ask Duo to take you through.'

Wufei found himself nodding, just to keep that approving look in Zechs' eyes, and two minutes later was following Duo out of the studio.

The café was another wholly surprising place; one huge room with a chandelier and elegant cream-painted furniture and a couple of velvet chaise-lounges in one corner.

'Nice, hey?' Duo asked, taking him over to a window table. 'A friend of ours started it a few months ago. It's a kind of charity thing; he takes in street kids and teaches them about cooking and stuff. I thought you'd like it. You were looking a bit shell-shocked when you walked in before. Hey, Quat!' This last was to a handsome young blond man who had carried over two menus. 'This is Wufei, a friend of Zechs'. This is Quatre; he runs this place.'

'How lovely to meet you,' Quatre beamed at him. 'Excuse me for two seconds. I have to take something out of the oven.'

'I'm not really Zechs' friend,' Wufei said. 'I supposed to be looking at the apartment for rent.'

'Oh, you'll love it,' Duo enthused. 'It's great. Heero and I live around the corner. It's really central but pretty quiet. For this city anyway.'

'It seems nice. And quiet would be good. I haven't been able to sleep properly since I got here with the heat and the noise.'

Duo nodded. 'I know. This isn't the best of time of year to arrive; it'll cool down once the rains start. It's not a bad place, you know. Considering there're ten million people living here, it's really friendly and there's hardly any crime. And some really cool places to hang out.'

'Maybe,' Wufei hedged. 'Ask me in a couple of weeks when I'm able to cross the road without having a heart attack.'

'Oh, don't!' Quatre groaned, appearing back at their table. 'It's awful, isn't it? I've been here for six months and I'm still terrified of crossing the road. I actually dream of cities where the traffic stops for red lights.'

Duo sniggered. 'Tro's doing something wrong if that's all you've got to dream about, Q. And stop telling him stuff like that. Don't listen to him, Wufei. He loves it really.'

'I'd go home tomorrow if I could,' Quatre sighed dramatically, but he was grinning. 'My partner works for the World Wildlife Fund,' he explained to Wufei. 'He's got a two year contract here looking at endangered reptile and insect species in the Mekhong Delta, but he's mostly out in the middle of nowhere so I'm stuck here.'

'Aren't you lucky?' Duo teased, and laughed when Quatre stuck out his tongue.

'He's just not a morning person,' Duo informed Wufei. 'God knows why he thought he'd enjoy running a café.'

'Well, I had to find _something_ to do with my time while Trowa's off looking at snails and snakes and other slimy creatures. And it's a nice way to meet people.'

'Like me,' Duo said cheerfully. 'Quat, can I just get a coffee? Wufei, what'll you have? Perfect, two coffees and a couple of muffins or something.' He leaned across the table and smiled at Wufei while Quatre brought their order. 'Just give this place a chance, OK? I know it's kind of overwhelming at the start, but it grows on you. Honest.'

'You actually _like_ living here?' Wufei demanded, taking a sip of his coffee. It was very good.

'I love it. Mostly. Not sure I'd want to stay here for ever, but Heero grew up here – he's my boyfriend, by the way, in case you hadn't guessed – and he's got the studio, so it's home for now.'

'Do you teach yoga too?'

'Hell, no. I'm not really into all that slow stretching and breathing and all that. I help out in the office, and sometimes here if Quat needs to take some time off, and in my spare time I restore old motorbikes, and do some volunteering at an orphanage.'

'How did you end up in Saigon?'

'Just happened, sort of. I was backpacking around Asia and stopped here for a couple of days on the way to Cambodia and met Heero in a bar.' He looked down at his empty cup, smiling dreamily. 'That was three years ago and I've never got around to leaving. Speaking of leaving, I'd better get back to the studio and check people in. Have fun with Zechs! See you 'round, I hope.' He bent down to give Wufei a quick kiss on the cheek before rushing out, ponytail flying behind.

'You'll get used to him,' Quatre observed, arriving back at the table with a cup of tea for himself. 'And I know you won't believe me, but you'll get used to living here.'

Wufei quirked an eybrow at him. 'How long did it take you?'

The blond laughed. 'Don't ask me that. The first night we got here, I actually cried. Trowa had booked us into some horrid little guesthouse, and there were cockroaches and the air conditioning didn't work and the sheets were stained with something I _still_ don't even want to think about.'

Wufei couldn't help grinning. 'I think I stayed there too, my first night.'

'I didn't _stay_ there,' Quatre said emphatically. 'It was hideous and Trowa kept saying it wasn't that bad, and he'd stayed in far worse places when he was doing field work. I told him he could stay there if he liked, but I was going to the Sheraton, so we booked in there for the first month, and then I found the house we're living in now. Honestly, it's a much nicer city if you have a comfortable place to live and a garden. You'll be fine if you move in with Zechs; he knows the city inside out so he can show you around as well.'

'How long has he been here then?'

'Most of his life,' Quatre took a sip of his tea. 'His parents were diplomats so Zechs and his sister grew up here. He went to university in France, and then he worked there for a few years before coming back here. Oh, there he is!'

'Ten o'clock, Mr. Chang,' the blond announced, sticking his head through the door and wiping sweaty bangs out of his eyes. 'Come on. Don't want to be late, do you?'

'Certainly not!' Wufei gulped the last of his drink, fumbling for his wallet.

'Oh, don't worry about it,' Quatre assured him. 'Please come back again soon!'

Zechs took his elbow and ushered him across the road, a warm, light touch of skin against skin. 'Don't worry. You'll get used to it. Just watch for cars; they don't swerve as easily as motorbikes! Do you drive?'

'Cars, yes. Motorbikes, definitely not. And certainly not here. It's insane. I was on one of those motorbike taxis yesterday and I thought I was going to die. I was in such a hurry to get off that I burnt my leg on the exhaust and it still hurts.'

'Ah. You've had your first Saigon kiss, then.'

'I _beg_ your pardon? I certainly have not.'

Zechs laughed, leading him into the little courtyard. 'That's what we call exhaust burns. Don't worry; it's almost a rite of initiation. Now, here we are. Come in.'

He took Zechs into a small hallway, crowded with a washing machine and a couple of mountain bikes and a cat basket, that opened into a kitchen. It looked, well, like a normal kitchen in a normal house, albeit a somewhat exotic one. There were orchids in the window and some lovely pieces of lacquer-ware on the big table and a shelf full of cookery books.

'Would you like a drink? Just give me five minutes to get showered and changed and I'll show you the annexe.'

Wufei accepted a glass of iced tea and sat down gratefully, away from noise and traffic and homicidal motorcyclists. There was a ceiling fan which rotated in slow, lazy circles and there were stunning framed photographs on the walls. The vivid emerald-green of rice fields; a water buffalo being led on a string by a small boy; an old lady sitting on a pavement selling bananas.

Zechs was back precisely five minutes later; Wufei took a long gulp of the cold drink. All that blond hair was loose, a silken cascade to his waist. He hadn't bothered to dry properly; the sleeveless t-shirt was clinging to patches of damp skin, and the baggy drawstring pants were hanging low on his hipbones and there was a tantalising strip of pale flesh between the two.

Oh, gods.

'I love your photographs. Did you buy them locally?'

'You could say that. I took them.'

'Really? Is that what you do then? I thought you were a yoga teacher.'

'That pays the bills.' Zechs lifted his glass and drained in a couple of long swallows. Wufei tried not to stare. 'Photography's for fun. I've had a few exhibitions, though, and I've got work at some galleries in town. If you want prints, I can get them for you. Now, how long are you going to be here?'

'I've got a two year contract,' Wufei said glumly. 'At the National Library. I'm supposed to be restoring some old manuscripts, dating back to the Chinese invasions.'

'Sounds interesting.' Zechs didn't bother sitting down, just rested one hip against the table, which made the t-shirt ride up even more.

'I imagine it would be, if I could actually see them. No one seems to have any idea who I am or what I'm doing there. I've been back four times in the last two days, and every time they've told me I can come back '

'I'm sure it'll sort itself out,' Zechs assured him. 'It's a cultural thing; a lot of people here will agree to whatever you say rather than admitting they don't know what you're actually asking. Just give it a couple of days.'

Wufei huffed. "It's rank inefficiency, that's what it is.' He gazed into the amber depths of his drink, forcing himself not to look at all that smooth, pale skin, so very close to him. 'I'm starting to think I made a horrendous mistake coming here.'

There, that was the first time he'd said it. But he couldn't tell his parents, so proud of their only son. And Sally and Meiran had thought he was embarking on a great adventure and he certainly couldn't admit defeat to Professor Khushrenada at the university who'd given him the job.

'You've been here how long? Only four days?' Zechs grinned at him. 'You need to give the place a chance. Why don't you take it easy for a while? Get used to things first. Everything here is all so new, isn't it? The heat, the food, the noise. You need to adjust to all that.'

'I have deadlines! I can't just … _take it easy_, when I'm here to do a job. My university in Sanque is expecting regular reports.'

'Sanque, hmm?' Zechs grinned at him. 'The country that taught Switzerland about punctuality and Germany about efficiency. No wonder this is such a culture shock to you! Never mind, you're on the other side of the world, seven time zones away. I'm sure they'll cut you a little slack while you find your feet. OK, time for the tour.' He found a bunch of keys. 'The apartment does have its own front door, but I'll take you through here for now.' He gestured to a door opposite the cooker. 'Where are you staying right now?'

'A hotel by Ben Thanh Market. It's all right, but rather expensive. The museum had arranged accommodation for me but it was frightful. There were cockroaches everywhere!'

'I hate to tell you this, but they're an occupational hazard of living here. You'll get used to it.'

Wufei grimaced. 'I'm not sure if I want to. I was so excited about coming here, and everything's gone wrong so far. Maybe I should have just stayed at home.'

'Well, I'm glad you didn't.' Zechs gave him a wink, accompanied by a flirty smile that made Wufei choke on a mouthful of tea. 'My parents always used to say that you needed a give a place two weeks before you made up your mind about liking it or not. They were diplomats, so they were used to travelling around. Now, let's show you the rooms for rent. It's pretty much a self-contained annexe, there's a door out to the alleyway so you'll have your own entrance.' He stood up, finding a bunch of keys in a drawer, and leading Wufei through a doorway.

'As you see, it's pretty private. My sister used to live here and we usually kept this door open, but you can lock it if you'd prefer.'

'It's lovely,' Wufei said, meaning it. The sunny, white-painted room with its few pieces of simple, wooden furniture was worlds away from the cluttered hotel room. There was a small, spotless bathroom, and a narrow kitchen at the back. It was perfect. He could see himself here. He would just need a proper desk and chair, and some more bookshelves. 'Why did your sister leave?'

'She moved in with her boyfriend a month or so ago. If you're interested, it's three hundred dollars a month, which includes all bills and a cleaner three times a week. If you're not into cooking, the food stall in the alley is pretty good, and they'll let you run up a tab.'

'Is it safe to eat at food stalls?'

White teeth gleamed as Zechs laughed at him. 'Try it. Live dangerously for a change.' He caught Wufei's expression and the humour faded slightly. 'It's perfectly safe. Now, are you interested?'

'I think so, yes.'

Zechs sighed with relief. 'Thank God. I've had a few other people here and they were all nightmares. The first question one guy asked was where he could pick up bar girls around here.'

'I'm ..not into that.'

'Ah. Not into girls, or the variety that frequent bars?'

'Neither.' Wufei squared his chin. Always better to get it over with first. Not that he really thought it would be an issue in this case. 'I'm gay. If that's in any way a problem, I'll just leave now.'

'Oh, it's not in any remote way a problem. The opposite if anything. Now, there's no balcony, I'm afraid, since you're on the ground floor, but you can use my roof terrace. Let me show you.'

The roof terrace was pure paradise. There were a couple of hammocks and sun loungers, and lots of plants, and a little fountain and butterflies.

'You're sure you don't mind me coming up here?'

'Not at all. I've got the balconies, and I'm in the studio most of the day. Now, are you remotely interested? Or do you need to know anything else?'

'I'm very interested. Very.' For form's sake, he asked a couple of questions about internet access and the cleaner's duties and how Zechs wanted the rent to be paid. The answers didn't matter. He knew he was going to come and live here. He'd known it, really, the first time he'd seen the house. Before he'd even seen the man who owned it.

'Well then. Now, I have a couple of things to ask you. First question, do you have a boyfriend waiting for you back in Sanque?'

'No boyfriend.' Wufei tilted his head slightly to look up into sunlit, smiling blue eyes. How odd; he hadn't been looking for this at all. He'd somehow expected to spend two whole years buried in a library with books for company. 'Do you?'

'Ah, perfect answer. No, I don't, either. Second question. You don't play any percussion or brass instruments, do you? Or have any loud hobbies?'

Wufei shook his head. 'Would it be a problem if I said yes?'

Zechs grinned. 'The boyfriend would be a very definite problem. I could probably overlook anything else.'

'That seems rather forward.' Wufei touched the stem of an exquisite cream-coloured orchid. 'Don't you think?'

'Not at all, actually. I think forward would be me doing this.'

Certainly, leaning over the few inches between them was forward, but the kiss itself wasn't, particularly. Just a soft brush of Zechs' mouth against his own.

'Is this going to be part of the tenancy agreement?' Zechs' fingers were busy at the nape of his nape, loosening his hair. Now, _that_ was forward, but it felt terribly good, having his hair caressed like that.

'It's not written in the lease, but it is optional.'

Oh, dear. All Zechs needed to do, really, was to smile at him like that. 'The kissing?'

'Kissing. Or anything else you might like at some future date.'

Ah. Wufei let out a breath that had somehow caught in his throat. 'I'm only here for two years.' An hour ago, it had seemed like infinity, but now it seemed a ridiculously short time.

'Yes. But people do have a habit of coming out here and staying on. I don't remember if I told you, but I'm from Sanque too. I'm not sure if I want to live here always.' He gave a slightly self-conscious laugh, winding a lock of Wufei's hair around one finger. 'Now, _that_ was forward. I'm sorry.'

'It's all right.' He reached up and kissed Zechs again, a slow, sure exploration.

Another Saigon kiss.


	2. Tropical Delight

Disclaimer: I don't own any Gundam Wing characters or Cambodian islands. One day….

Author's Note: Koh Tonsay – Rabbit Island in English – exists pretty much as described in this story, and is a superb place for a tropical island getaway. I should possibly add that Dalat wine isn't _quite_ as bad as Trowa claims but it certainly doesn't compare to champagne!

This is for Kaeru Shisho, who wanted them to go to Cambodia.

**Tropical Delight:**

'Hey!' Duo was jumping up and down on the little wooden pier as the fishing boat pulled alongside. 'You're finally here! How was the trip?'

'Horrendous!' Wufei uncurled his cramped legs – he and Zechs had had only a small space between crab and lobster pots – and stood up carefully. Horrendous was perfectly correct. They'd crossed the sprawl of Saigon before sunrise that morning to reach the bus station, spent nine hours on a slow bus clattering through the south of Vietnam, followed by a crowded minibus to the Cambodian border, and then motorbike taxis to the harbour, and half an hour on the boat to Koh Tonsay.

Duo laughed, giving them each a quick hug as they jumped off the boat, then helped them to carry their bags. 'Told you it would be a nightmare, but you said you wanted to use local transport. _We_ had a lovely air-con coach to Phnom Penh, and then we hired a taxi to get down here.'

'Well, some of the scenery was glorious and the Cambodian border crossing was fun. We had to sign a piece of paper saying we weren't suffering from ridiculous diseases like rash or oblivious or depression or lots of other obscure things and then bribe the guards to get our passports stamped.'

Duo laughed. 'Well, it's great to see you both and you're gonna love it here.' As they crossed the beach to the little coconut orchard, he launched into an account of everything he and the others had been doing in the past three days.

'It looks beautiful,' Wufei agreed, as soon as he had a chance to get a word in. He hadn't noticed much on the boat; too preoccupied with keeping an eye on his bag, which had been flung at the front along with a couple of chickens and baskets of vegetables. The little island was beautiful; a narrow crescent of sand bordered by palm trees, and wooded hills rising behind.

'Yeah, it's amazing,' Duo beamed. He was looking like the poster boy for tropical island holidays; he had shells braided into his hair and strung around his neck and was wearing only a pair of frayed denim shorts and a silver toe ring on one bare foot. 'None of us want to leave. Heero and I've found this little cove on the other side of the island where he can do nude yoga every morning and I get to watch him, and Tro thinks he's discovered a new sub-species of newt, and Quat's pretty much adopted every kid on the island.'

'Where are they?' Zechs asked.

'Heero and Trowa went for a hike up to the top of the island. Quat's here; when we saw the boat coming in, he ran to get the keys for your hut. Oh, yeah, about that, I know you asked us to book separate huts, but there's actually a problem with the roof of one of them. There were some pretty heavy winds last night and the roof kind of caved in and they haven't got 'round to fixing it yet. I don't know if you're OK with sharing. If it's a problem, there's another place to stay on the other side of the boat jetty. We checked it out and it's fine, just not so quiet as here, and the beach isn't as nice.'

'Wufei?' Zechs looked at him enquiringly.

'I don't mind,' Wufei said brusquely. 'Anything's fine.'

Well, of course it was. They'd been sharing a bed for weeks; of course they could share a room for a few days. Making a fuss about it would be patently ridiculous.

Duo nodded. 'That's cool, then. Right, this is us.' He stood, gesturing at the row of tiny bamboo huts nestled beneath the grove of palm trees. 'You've got the one closest to the beach; me and 'Ro are next door, and the others are on the other side of us. And let me tell you; you're lucky that you're a bit away from them. They've got serious stamina, those two, and Quat gets a bit loud when he's excited.'

'What am I excited about?' Quatre demanding running up.

'Excited to see Zechsy and 'Fei,' Duo answered smoothly.

'Well, of course I am! It's wonderful that we're all here.' He glanced swiftly between them both. 'Duo, let's leave them to get sorted. Zechs, here's the key. We'll leave you to put your stuff away and we'll be down on the beach. We'll order some drinks so come on down when you're ready.'

'Right.' Wufei shouldered the bag he'd put down to give Quatre a hug and climbed up the three narrow steps. 'I supposed we'd better get settled. Oh. This is all very …rustic.'

Admittedly, he hadn't exactly expected – or wanted – anything luxurious, but this was…well, rustic was the only word. There were gaps in the planks of wood under his feet, and in the bamboo walls, and something scurrying about overhead, and one bed – fortunately large – and a couple of hooks on the door. The bathroom at least had tiles on the floor, and a squat toilet and a large plastic bucket full of water. Otherwise there was just enough space around the bed to store their bags.

'Wufei.' Zechs came after him and slid both arms around his waist. 'If sharing makes you at all uncomfortable, I'll be quite happy to stay somewhere else.'

'It's fine.'

'Yes, I know. You said. But you're not acting like it's fine at all.' He rested his head on the smaller man's shoulder, long strands of loose hair floating against Wufei's arm. 'What is it?'

'Nothing. I'm just tired. And I know you said we'd be staying in huts on the beach, but I didn't think it would be quite so primitive.'

'We don't have to stay,' Zechs offered quickly. 'There are some nice resorts back on the mainland if you'd prefer. We could just stay here tonight and move in the morning.'

'No, honestly. I've just never been anywhere like this. It'll be fine.' He turned around, feeling a stab of guilt at the look on Zechs' face. 'So long as you don't mind sharing with me, that is?'

'Hmmm.' Zechs considered, rubbing one hand up and down Wufei's spine, soothing. 'I'm not sure. Any nasty little habits of yours that I should know about? You don't snore, do you?'

'Certainly not!'

Zechs laughed down at him, and then bent to give him a quick kiss, all casual, unthinking affection. 'Ready to go see the others?'

'In a minute,' Wufei hedged. 'I might get changed first. I feel like my clothes are stuck to me. You go on and I'll follow you down.'

It was stupid, Wufei chided himself, as he rummaged through his backpack. Stupid to feel remotely shy or self-conscious in front of Zechs. They'd had sex, for heaven's sake; it wasn't like the other man hadn't seen him naked before.

Except – he'd never spent the whole night in Zechs' bed. He'd dozed off a couple of times, after, but always woken up to go back to his own room to shower and sleep in his own bed. He'd never shared a bathroom with Zechs, never got dressed in front of him, or woken up in his arms.

He'd never done any of those things with anyone.

Not until now.

Quatre and Duo were lazing in deckchairs just a few feet from the sea, in the shade of a palm tree.

'Where's Zechs?'

'He said he wanted to stretch his legs a bit after the journey.' Quatre handed him a glass. 'Here you go. One Rabbit Island Sunset. It's pineapple and vodka. OK?'

'Perfect.' Wufei took a long swallow. It was stupid to feel hurt. He'd made it very clear that he'd wanted to be alone.

'Is everything OK?'

Wufei looked up from his drink to find identical expressions of concern on both faces. 'Of course it is. I have to say, I hadn't expected a beach hut to be quite so…rustic and beach hutty, but it's not a problem.'

Quatre laughed. 'Rustic! That's an understatement! The first night we got here, there was a mouse on my rucksack, and we had a lizard in the toilet yesterday and there are all sorts of little animals in the thatch, and no real showers and there's only electricity for two hours in the evening when the generator's on. It's like going back to living in caves or something.'

'Oh, here we go again.' Duo rolled his eyes. 'You're always going on about how you guys lived in a tent in the Amazon for years; this must be luxury by contrast.'

'That was for Trowa's _job_,' Quatre objected. 'This is supposed to be a holiday. I was hoping for a swimming pool, and a dozen servants jumping to obey my every whim.'

'You've got Tro for that!' Duo winked at Wufei. 'Wait 'til you see the two of them. Quat only has to make the tiniest little grumble and Tro runs around getting him food and drink and giving him backrubs and any damn thing else he wants.'

'You are totally unprincipled!' Wufei stated.

'Watch and learn,' Quatre stretched luxuriously, and then took a long drink. 'Besides, I see him so rarely these days, I may as well get as much use out of him as I can.'

Wufei gave Duo a quick glance; that, for the sunny-natured Quatre, sounded unusually bitter.

'You're turning him into a slave,' Duo teased, keeping it light.

'He's not complaining.' Quatre stood up. 'I think I'll go and get my camera before the sun starts to go down. Wufei, we've been seeing the most amazing sunsets, and then it's absolutely jet black except for the stars and the moon. So beautiful. And you can lie in bed and listen to the sea.'

'Can you?' Duo asked, flicking Wufei another wink. 'I couldn't hear the waves last night; we could just hear some kind of animal making this really weird moaning sound for ages, might have been some sort of mating call or something….Ow! Quatre!' He rubbed the back of his head. 'You didn't have to hit me.'

'Actually,' Quatre said loftily, 'I did. I'll be back in a minute.'

'You asked for that,' Wufei told him. 'Is he OK? He doesn't seem as…well, not as cheerful as usual.'

'God, I don't know. There's something weird going on with him and Trowa, but he won't talk about it and Tro never really says _anything_, so who knows? If Tro's not shagging him senseless, and God, believe me, they do that a _lot_, or running around after him, he just vanishes off to look for frogs and stuff. I don't know. Heero says to let them sort it out themselves.'

'He's probably right.' Wufei reached for his glass. 'Oh, this is nice.'

Duo grinned. 'Yeah, they do great drinks. Wait 'til you see the board outside the restaurant. At happy hour, it's two dollars for 'spirituality' – spirits, you know - _and_ you get a free coke. Heero keeps ranting about how it's bad English and spirituality's not something you can buy but I think it's cool.'

'I think so too,' Wufei agreed. 'Actually, it's lovely to sit somewhere that's not moving.' It was perfect actually. It went on being perfect for the rest of the evening; one of the nicest evenings he'd ever had.

The other three came back together, just as the sun was setting, and there were more drinks, and then the most delicious dinner. Duo, as always, ended up on Heero's lap, and the guesthouse owner's little daughter was on Quatre's, fast asleep.

'The food's amazing, isn't it?' Duo enthused. Having finished his own plate, he was picking at Heero's. 'We ordered curry for lunch, and one of the waiters actually climbed up a coconut tree to pick some for the sauce. It was so cool! I want to try it tomorrow.'

'Baka,' Heero said fondly. 'You'll break your neck.'

'You'll catch me.' Duo twisted around in his lap to kiss him.

'Get a beach hut, you two,' Zechs teased.

'We've got one!' Duo jumped to his feet and dragged Heero after him. 'Right, babe?'

Trowa smiled over at Quatre. 'Bed sounds like a rather good idea, actually. Maybe it's time you gave the little one back to her parents?'

'I suppose.' Quatre sounded rather reluctant, but he stood up anyway. 'Goodnight, Zechs. Wufei. We'll see you in the morning.'

Zechs smiled at him. 'Well now. What would you like to do? Turn in or go for a walk?'

'I'd love a walk, if you don't mind waiting two minutes. I think I'll put on a bit more insect spray. I can feel things biting me.'

'Cheek,' Zechs winked at him. 'I thought that was my privilege.'

Wufei was scarlet as he ran back to their hut. He wasn't used to being teased like that. Or at all, very much. Silly.

Their hut was even smaller than he'd noticed the first time. They would, quite literally, be on top of one another. And it would be fine, just like he'd said. They were lovers; it wouldn't kill them to share a room for a few nights.

Wufei put one hand on the door handle and then froze at the sound of voices.

'Come on, Quat,' Trowa was saying, teasing, just outside. 'You can't go around keeping every cute kid you meet.'

'I know that,' Quatre said tightly. 'I like children, that's all.'

'I noticed. We'll have to get one some day.'

'Will we really?'

'Yeah. Sure.'

'When exactly?'

'One day. When we both decide to settle down. When we're ready.'

'And when exactly is that going to be? Because I think I am.'

'Fine,' Trowa said casually. 'If that's what you want.'

'It's not about me!' Quatre snapped. 'Not just me. We're supposed to be a partnership. I don't want to do something you're not ready for, just to make me happy.'

'Quat. I'd do anything to make you happy. You know that.'

'I do, yes. I don't mean it has to happen tomorrow; I'd just like to know it's a possibility. One day.'

Trowa exhaled. 'We'll talk about it, OK? Really. Soon. For one thing, we need to sort out our own situation. Make it permanent.'

'Trowa Barton! That had better not be a proposal. I'm warning you, I want the full works. Champagne and candlelight and music.'

'I'll remember that.' He said it lightly, presumably relieved that they'd moved on. 'Now, Mr. Winner. Since proposals are out, maybe you'd be interested in a proposition for the rest of the evening?'

Quatre didn't say anything, but Wufei heard them moving away, heard the door of their hut wrench open, and then a low laugh from Quatre that he'd never heard before and made him blush faintly.

'What kept you?' Zechs was still sitting by the table where they'd had dinner, camera fixed on the sky.

'Sorry! Quatre and Trowa were talking outside our hut and I didn't want to disturb them.' He let Zechs take his hand, leading him down the beach. 'This is so beautiful. I've never been anywhere like this.'

'We'll have to go to Phu Quoc next,' Zechs told him. 'That's the big island off Vietnam. We should be able to see it from here tomorrow, if it's clear.'

'I'd like that,' Wufei murmured, slipping an arm around Zechs' waist. It was easy enough to do when they had a whole beach to themselves, and only the moon to see. They walked the length of the beach more or less in silence, stopping every now and then to admire the silvery waves, or to kiss.

'Glad you came? Even if it is all a little on the primitive side?'

'Very glad.' Wufei snuggled against him. 'It's wonderful. An amazing experience.'

'Good. Another new experience for you. You can add it to singing karaoke and riding a motorbike around Benh Thanh roundabout, and paddling down our alley when it's flooded.' Zechs kissed the top of his head, and then cleared his throat. 'May I ask you something? Is that all I am to you; just another experience that's part of your time in Asia?'

It should have been unexpected. It wasn't, really. He'd noticed a hurt look in Zechs' eyes a couple of times in the past few weeks, when he moved back from being touched in public, or gave Zechs a last kiss before heading back downstairs to his own room, or when he'd introduced Zechs to some people from work as his 'friend'. And back in the hut, when he'd rather obviously been uncomfortable with sharing.

'No! Of course not. You're…more than that. Really'

'Really?' Zechs echoed. 'What am I, exactly, to you?'

'My friend,' Wufei said softly. 'More than a friend.'

He didn't, really, know what else to say. Zechs wasn't his boyfriend, exactly. At least Wufei didn't think so, and Zechs had never said anything about it. He'd seemed happy enough with the way things were between them. They went out together several times a week; sometimes just the two of them, sometimes with the others. They watched movies together, and took turns to cook, and sunbathed on the roof.

From the very start, it had seemed only natural to curl up against Zechs on the sofa, or on the swing-seat on the roof; to kiss goodnight and good morning, and on various other occasions during the day; to press closely to Zech when they were on the motorbike, and to have the other man's arm around his waist when they stopped to buy iced coffees and drink them by the side of the road, along with all the other courting couples at night in Saigon.

Then, a month ago, they'd arrived back from dinner with Heero and Duo, and Zechs had kissed him lingeringly as soon as they were through the front door, and that had been that, really. They'd kissed all the way upstairs, and when Zechs kicked open his bedroom door and pulled him toward the bed, it had seemed overpoweringly right and natural and inevitable.

'How much more?' Zechs asked, very tentative. 'I was under the impression that we were dating, that we were a couple. Is that not the case?'

'I don't know,' Wufei blundered. 'Zechs, I don't…are we?'

'Apparently not.' Zechs was on his feet suddenly, his pale sheaf of hair gleaming in the moonlight. 'Never mind. Silly of me. Forget it.'

'Zechs, wait!' Wufei jumped up. 'I didn't mean it like that. Honestly.'

'Really?' Zechs demanded. 'How exactly did you mean it? Perhaps you'd consider letting me know when you figure it out for yourself.'

Damn. _Damn_. Idiot that he was. Wufei banged his head, none too gently, against the palm tree behind him, and then forced himself to take a succession of deep, slow breaths.

_A couple_, Zechs had said. Was that what they were? What he wanted them to be?

Damn.

He set off down the beach, the moon bright enough for him to follow Zechs' footprints. He wasn't back at the hut though, the key was still hanging from its nail. Wufei went looking for him; the restaurant, and then the hammocks and the deckchairs and finally the little pier where they'd arrived. Zechs wasn't there. Quatre was, slumped against one of the wooden posts, with a bottle of beer in one hand, which was odd because he didn't drink.

'Are you all right?'

Quatre shrugged. 'Yes. Maybe. No, not really. Here.' He handed Wufei the open bottle. 'I think I've had enough to drink. I love him, you know. But he's so _clueless_ and he thinks sex solves _everything_, and honestly, sometimes, I just want to kick his teeth in!'

Wufei burst out laughing. 'Sorry. I just never imagined you saying something like that. What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?'

'If you don't mind too much. I need to talk to _someone_! I just – for once, I'd love to feel that I don't come second to some endangered amphibian.' He took the bottle back and took a deep swallow. 'Ugh. I don't even _like_ beer. I love how much he wants to save every life form in the universe. I love how passionate he is about his work, I really do. But it's _his_. I've spent seven years following him around the world, and I want something of my own. Is that so terrible?'

'Of course it isn't,' Wufei assured him. 'But you have your café. That's something of yours.'

'I suppose,' Quatre admitted. 'Saigon was supposed to be a whole new start for us, you know. We almost broke up last year while we were in Africa. I'd just had enough of everything; we'd been in Nigeria for months. I was living in a compound with armed guards outside; Tro was gone for weeks at a time and I was terrified every time he left that he'd be killed or kidnapped or he'd just vanish.'

'That must have been awful,' Wufei breathed.

The blond nodded. 'Vietnam was meant to be our compromise; Trowa could do his fieldwork and I could have a proper home and look into starting a business.' He took another mouthful of beer and grimaced. 'This is _so_ disgusting. I don't know how people drink it. It was fine at the start; we made friends, and Heero and Zechs and Duo helped me with the café and Trowa either came to the city every weekend or we went to the beach or somewhere. Then the budget for his project was slashed because they needed to divert funds somewhere else, and he had to let people go, so he's doing about three people's jobs and I _never_ get to see him and he's working on land owned by the military so civilians aren't allowed.'

He grimaced, putting the bottle down. 'Please, don't let me drink any more of this. It's not helping remotely. I just want a home,' he said quietly. 'Somewhere permanent. I don't mind travelling; I always knew that would be part of life with Tro, but I want us to have somewhere to come back to. I'd like a proper job. I've got an MBA and I've never done anything with it; just tried to help out with Trowa's work and done some volunteering. And I want us to look into adopting a baby. More than anything actually.'

'Does Trowa want that?'

'He says he does but I think he just says it for my sake. His parents died when he was a baby and he hardly ever sees his sister, and he didn't have a real home growing up, so he doesn't know what it's like. He keeps saying we'll settle down one day, but he won't be ready 'til he's personally met every cold-blooded creature on the planet, and no one's ever going to let us have a baby while we're moving around the world every year or so. It wouldn't be fair, anyway.'

Wufei took a deep breath. He wasn't any good at this sort of thing. He didn't even know whether or not he was in a relationship, or what Zechs wanted. How was he supposed to advise anyone else?

'There's always something he wants to do first,' Quatre sighed. 'He says he wants whatever I do, that he'll do anything for me, but we seem to want such different things. I think he'd be quite happy spending the rest of his life under a tree in a rainforest somewhere, once he had some slimy animals to watch.'

'I don't think he'd be happy without you being there with him.' That was a certainty anyway. Wufei had only met Trowa a few times, but it was screamingly obvious how he felt about his partner.

'Maybe not,' Quatre said ruefully. 'Well, yes. But he'd probably love me more if I had a forked tongue and was on some list of endangered animals.'

'Stop it.' Wufei inched close enough to put one arm awkwardly around the blond's shoulders. 'He does love you. You know that. And you've told him how you feel?'

Quatre laughed, a little shakily. 'Oh, yes. A few minutes ago. I'm surprised you didn't hear; I would have thought the whole island heard me. I don't know. I _hate_ fighting with people, especially him. I suppose I'd better go back and apologise.'

'It sounds like all you did was tell him what you wanted; you don't have to be sorry for that. On the other hand, I'm the worst person in the universe to give anyone advice on relationships, so maybe you should do the exact opposite to what I think.'

'I could stay here for a few minutes. It's probably best if we both cool down a little.' He rested his head on Wufei's shoulder. 'Now, why are you here listening to me blathering instead of doing something ridiculously romantic with Zechs? Have you had a row?'

Wufei blinked at the abrupt change of subject. 'Not a row, precisely. More of a, well, a discussion. About our relationship. About whether we even have a relationship.'

Quatre's bright laughter floated across the water. 'Wufei. You live together: you spend every spare minute together, as far as I can see. Of course you have a relationship.'

'It's scary, how I feel about him… I've only known him for three months. It's too soon.'

Quatre snorted. 'I knew I wanted to spend my life with Trowa after two minutes. It took a couple of days to prove it to _him_, though; he's always been a bit slow. And then I had to spend weeks convincing him that I was perfectly happy to go to South America with him as soon as we'd both graduated.'

'That's the thing!' Wufei burst out. 'I don't know if I could do that. I have a plan for my life; I can't just throw it all over because I've met someone I like. I can't just give up everything to live in Saigon. I'd miss my family too much and it's not fair to my parents anyway. They helped to support me all the way though university; I can't just drop out. And I love my job; I love restoring old books.'

Quatre leaned over and reached for the bottle, tilting it to pour the dregs into the sea. 'There. A libation to the sea gods. Has Zechs actually asked you to give up any of those things? It doesn't sound like him.'

'Well, no, he hasn't,' Wufei admitted. 'But he has a house and a job and a life here. I can't ask him to give all that up.'

'Wufei.' Quatre leaned forward and put a hand on his arm. 'He adores you. Really. And you'd only be asking him to go back to Sanque. That's his proper home; his parents live there. I'm sure he'll want to go back eventually.'

'That all sounds very serious. We've never talked about anything like that. What we want. He thinks it's just some sort of fling for me.'

'Is it?' Quatre asked, blue eyes very intent.

'No. I tried to tell him, but I'm no good at this sort of thing, and I made a mess of it. I just don't know how to do any of this.'

It hadn't been in the plan, any of _this_. Two years in Saigon to gain practical experience, and then the half-promised position at the Sanque National Archives. And Treize.

'May I ask you something personal?' Quatre asked delicately.

'I can imagine what it is, and no, there's never really been anyone. A few people who weren't all that serious, and then, well, there was a professor at the university when I was doing my doctorate, but he was my supervisor and it would have been totally unprofessional.'

He'd thought, half-thought, that it would have been different after two years away. He'd stopped thinking about Treize, about a life with Treize, nearly so much, since meeting Zechs. He'd imagined an orderly, book-lined house, and scholarly discussions. The two of them working side by side in a library and dedicating books to each other.

Never laughter, or curling up on a battered couch to watch TV, or cooking together, or those hot, burning kisses or the slow, sweet slide into intimacy and another man's body.

'Oh, God.' Wufei snapped. 'I'm an idiot.'

'I wouldn't say that,' Quatre said gently, smiling at him, and then they weren't alone any more.

Trowa had a backpack slung over one shoulder and a candle in one hand, the little flame shielded carefully from the wind.

'Hey. Wufei, could I speak to Quatre for a minute?' He didn't even bother to look at Wufei, eyes fastened on Quatre.

'Of course.' Wufei stumbled to his feet, and moved, fast. God, the way those two had _looked_ at each other, like nothing else existed in the entire universe. It had caught his breath and his heart, and he paused for a minute on the beach, just to breathe.

'So,' Trowa said, the sound carrying easily over the waves. 'I've been all over this danm island looking for champagne, and there's none anywhere, and I couldn't get any of the fishermen to lend me a boat to go to the mainland. The best I could find was that crappy Vietnamese wine that tastes like piss and vinegar and it's not even chilled. Will it do, do you think?'

Ah.

Wufei realised, a little belatedly, that he should very definitely not be listening to this, to any of it, and ran. Zechs was back at the hut, sprawled in the hammock slung under the roof.

'I'm so very sorry.' The words, unconsidered, came tumbling out of his brain. 'I'm an idiot sometimes. Most of the time, probably.'

'Well.' Zechs took the outstretched hand, squeezing gently. 'Not all the time. Can we talk about this?'

'Please. I don't know what this …us…actually is. What you want it to be. But I want to be with you. And since I'm incredibly stupid, I've just worked that out.'

'Better late than never,' Zechs commented, and gave Wufei's hand a tug that landed him in the hammock as well. 'Now, _that's_ better,' he added, after they'd squirmed around to find comfortable spots. 'I was just coming to find you.'

'I met Quatre,' Wufei explained. It was gloriously comfortable curled up around Zechs. 'He'd had a row with Trowa; I think he needed someone to talk to.'

Zechs laughed. 'Yes, I can imagine. I heard yelling and banging doors. Did they sort it out?'

'I think so. I think Trowa's proposing to him.'

'It's about time.' He kissed Wufei's forehead. 'They'll be fine, you know. Now, we were going to talk about us. Have I been rushing you too much?'

'No. You didn't do anything I didn't want. Not for one second. It's just…'

'You like to have your life planned out,' Zechs said quietly. 'I did notice. All right. Let's start with what currently _is_ planned. You're in Vietnam for the next two years. Yes? What do you want to do after that?'

'That _was_ planned, actually. It was part of the contract for me coming here, that I'd be eligible for the next permanent job at the National Archives back home. It was what I wanted then.'

A nine to five job in his field. Promotional prospects and a pension. It seemed, all of a sudden, terribly staid and boring. He was only twenty four and there was a whole world to explore first.

'And now?'

'Now.' Wufei slid one hand through Zechs' hair, twirling the long strands about his fingers. 'I think things have changed a little bit. I'd still like to work there, one day, but maybe not yet.' He tried to imagine life without the man in his arms; unthinkable now. Quite unthinkable.

But life _with_ him...that would be an adventure.

'Talking to you, to the others, it's made me realise how little I've actually seen of the world. I was thinking that maybe I – we – could take just take some time off and go travelling. If you'd like?'

It had been just a fantasy for a while; listening to his new friends' experiences, but suddenly it was a possibility. Why not?

'I'd like,' Zechs said instantly. 'That sounds gloriously unplanned. And then?'

Wufei grinned. 'Now, you're the one who wants everything all planned out? I don't know. We could find a place where we'd both like to live. Somewhere with a museum or a library where I can work, and lots of things for you to photograph. You should be doing that professionally, you're so good. I suppose I'd like to live in Europe eventually; not necessarily in Sanque but somewhere close enough to visit my family. Paris or Rome maybe.'

'Hmm. You've thought about it, just a little, haven't you?'

Wufei ducked his head. 'Well. Yes. Does it sound all right?'

'Let me see,' Zechs mused. 'You want me to travel around the world with you for an indefinite amount of time, and then move to one of the most beautiful cities in the world? I could possibly do that. On a couple of conditions.'

'What?'

'One.' Zechs picked up his hand, kissing one finger. 'You move into my bedroom when we get back home. You can keep yours as a study or whatever but you sleep with me. Yes? Two. You agree that I'm officially your boyfriend.'

'I could quite possibly do that. Anything else?'

'I can't actually think of a single thing,' Zechs admitted and kissed him properly. 'Oh. Listen.'

Wufei lifted his head. There were only the waves at first, drifting softly against the shore, and then the sound of Trowa's flute, a gentle counterpoint woven into the sigh of the waves.

'Come back here, you.' Zechs slid one arm around his neck, tugging him back down for a fierce kiss and then laughing. 'Bloody Trowa. How the _hell_ is anyone ever going to top that for a romantic proposal?'

'You can look on it as a challenge,' Wufei teased; a joke he wouldn't have made an hour previously.

'Oh, now _that's_ a challenge,' Zechs retorted. 'We'll see. I suppose I'll have to learn to play a musical instrument before I can even think about it. For the moment, this is probably as good a time to mention that I love you.'

No one had ever said that before.

'I love you, too,' Wufei echoed softly.

Trowa's flute trilled a quick flurry of notes, a question, and then stopped abruptly. Quatre, presumably, had said yes. There was silence for a few moments and then the music began again, soft and harmonious and melding perfectly with the sounds of wind and water.


End file.
